Reviews

I have come here to grab a morning coffee and croissant on various occasions and each time the baked goods are buttery, flakey and exceptionally fresh. The hot chocolates are a little too sweet for me, but their teas and coffee drinks are lovely. Excellent little spot to sit and enjoy a hot bevvie too on rainy days.

Ended up at Longs for a weekday lunch. We had wine chicken, tan tan noodles, beef roll and of course XLB. The wine chicken is very good. The chicken came in a little ceramic pot which helped keep it bathed in all the winey goodness. We ordered the meat version of tan tan noodles, I would have enjoyed it more if it had a bit of spice to it. However the noodles were still enjoyable. Next time I would probably opt for the regular tan tan and ask for a bit more heat. Beef roll was deelish. It was a bit "crispy" on the outside which added an appreciative crunch. The XLB had nice thin wrappers and the the broth was gingery and not too salty. Long's is definitely a solid choice for XLB outside of Richmond.

The service was brilliant. Very friendly, efficient and welcoming. The space is small and clean. There are not a lot of tables (<10) but they turned over quickly as the restaurant was very busy on a Thursday afternoon.
Bathrooms were clean enough to use.

Value is excellent, our four dishes came to $23.
Long's has all the essentials: food, value, efficiency AND service. Who would've thought it could be possible to have all four at a Chinese eatery? No hesitations recommending Long's for Shanghai-nese and XLB.

Went for afternoon tea. The food was pretty decent for afternoon tea. The selection of finger sandwiches tasted fresh and had a nice mix of flavours. There were turkey croissants, shrimp on focaccia, and egg salad pin wheels. The egg salad was very rich and creamy. I was surprised that the scones were not warm here, as they have been at all other afternoon tea services I've experienced, both here and in the UK. The clotted cream was very airy and not as dense as a good devonshire should be. Of the sweets offered, I enjoyed the blood orange chocolate swiss roll type dessert very much. The spice apple cake number was a tad too sweet for me, and the lemon tart was a bit 'meh'.

I was disappointed that the tea was not served loose. I had the assam and my partner had the darjeeling, both were bagged. When I am paying between $25 to $30 for tea I have higher expectations in the quality of tea. They sell their tea loose, so really they should be serving it loose. Why resort to bags?

Service was ok. It wasn't really solid, but I rounded up as it was better than decent. After our server brought over the tea and tier, she came by to top up our pots within 5 minutes of us receiving our tea. At that time our teapots were pretty much full to the brim. After this top up we never saw her again. It doesn't really help to have your teapot topped up before you've had a chance to pour your tea out. We noted that another server would go around with the hot water and top up every table except ours. We ended up having to flag down another server for top up. The servers were friendly, and we didn't feel rushed. Maybe it was just disorganization that caused the hot water snafu.

The tea house was very quaint. The tables were nicely space, and it didn't feel crowded. When you make reservations I would request a table in the front room. We had a lovely window seat which made the ambiance that much nicer. I just wouldn't want the table in the the rear of the house where you get a view of the toilet every time someone opens up the door.

Value in regards to the food is just decent. There wasn't any gourmet ingredients or special flavour combinations in any of the food items, and the tea is bagged.

I would still give this place another try if the opportunity presents itself in the future. It's definitely a charming place to take someone or meet someone for a lunch.

Went to The Jade for Saturday dim sum. Haven't been here for awhile now, we ending up here as Sea Harbour had too long of a wait. There was a wait here too, but far shorter.
Ordered the requisite dim sum dishes and some new ones. One of the new-to-me dishes was BBQ Pork/Century Egg cheung fun. I liked the somewhat creamy texture the perserved egg gave the cheung fun. I couldn't really taste the egg as the cha sui was the dominant flavour but it was a good combination. The dim sum in general was very good and well presented. Flavours were sharp and ingredients tasted fresh. For dessert we had the deep fried milk with mango. It did the job as a sweet end to our meal, but I still prefer the non flavoured deep fried milk.

The service was solid. We were greeted quickly, very prompt with the tea/hot water, dishes were changed out by almost every staff member that passed our table, and we didn't feel rushed as they continued to bring us tea even after our bill was settled. I also have a little extra appreciation for restaurants that bring out the hot towels when you finish your meal. It's always a nice touch.

The value is on par with the other table-cloth dim sum restaurants (eg: Sea Harbour, Kirin, SSW etc...) It's about $4 and up for dishes. At the $4 and up range I have higher expectations with service and ambiance. Jade delivered these very well.
The dining room was nicely appointed and the tables weren't crammed. The bathrooms were clean enough to use, but they didn't feel or smell clean.

Lately I have been patronizing hole-in-the-wall dim sum places, so it's nice to go to a regular dim sum restaurant so my palate doesn't lose touch what's good and what's mediorcre. Although, Jade was my second choice, they always have new and interesting dishes on their menu.

Found ourselves in Surrey this afternoon and swung into Mirch Masala for lunch around 1:30ish. The restaurant had a steady stream of customers but wasn't at full capacity.
We were seated promptly at a comfy booth and served water. They had lunch specials that looked like they could be good value, but we opted to order off the regular menu instead. We had Butter Chicken, Lamb Korma, naan and steamed basmati rice.

Both the Butter Chicken and Lamb Korma were extremely good. The meat was incredibly tender and juicy. The flavours were strong, but we could still distinguish the different tastes and textures of each dish. The Butter Chicken may be the best I've had in a long while. My goodness! It was so creamy and at the same time so tomato-ey. The food was so good we ordered extra naan to completely finish the chicken and lamb dishes instead of taking it with us. We don't normally do this, so that was a sign that we were both throughroughly enjoying our lunch.
The naan was fabulous. It was served piping hot, tender, chewy and fluffy. A bit fluffier compared to any other naan I've encountered. Really enjoyed the bread.
We washed our meal of 2 meat dishes, 4 orders of naan (oh the gluttony!), and basmati rice down with a mango shake and a Pepsi. This came to just under $39.

The space was open, clean and comfortable. We sat at a roomy booth and it felt private and cozy with the high backs and no tables adjacent to us.
The service was really prompt and kind. That's all I really need out of service from a restaurant and they fullfilled that nicely. The food came out quickly after we ordered (I would guess no longer than 10mins). As people came and went the tables were cleaned and prepped quickly and without commotion. Our lovely server brought out some Gulab Jamun at the end for dessert. What a wonderful sweet ending to a fantastic lunch! We were in a Korma coma by the end, and had to roll ourselves out to our car. :)

Without a doubt we will be back to Mirch Masala. We don't often find ourselves running errands in Surrey but we will make the effort to go to Mirch Masala. I will have no hesitation recommending this restaurant to friends.

This has been our go to place for bubble tea since my days at university. We went again today and I had the fresh papaya milk slush with coconut jelly. Nice papaya flavor. I have tried most of the drinks on the menu with various pearl/jelly/pudding combinations and I cannot recall any disappointing visits.
I really like the fact that when I have a slush-style drink the ice is a very, very fine slush. I have tried slush at some other bbt places and the ice can be quite coarse. The pearls are consistantly nicely cooked with good chewy texture.

Service has always been the same for our visits. We order, we wait. We usually go on a Saturday and the waits have never been unbearably long. I'm okay with waiting because they are busy, and if they're busy that means there is a lot of product turnover. In turn, I'm inclined to believe that the ingredients in my drink are fresh or at least not sitting past it's prime. ;) The service is decent for what it is. I don't expect too much from a take out drink place. I just want a well made bbt. In our last several visits, the owner has been manning the front and he keeps things moving pretty smoothly.
On a side note: In our past visits there was a female server with a stone cold poker face, that would always ask, "Anything else?" in a robotic monotone voice, at every pause in the order. We LOVED her! For some reason her no nonsense, somewhat surly demeanor appealed to us. And being asked, "Anything else?" at every pause was hilarious. I don't think she meant to be funny but it was always the highlight of our bbt visits. (Sigh....) We miss her.

The prices are right in line with many of the other places I've tried. Maybe even a little better considering I can always depend on getting a good drink. Whereas at other places it can be a bit of a crap shoot.
The ambiance is just decent. It can get cramped when crowded. Sometimes the music is blaring. Sometimes there are strange odors. At times things are sticky...I can deal with this as I don't eat in, I get out as soon as our order is up.
I still continue to frequent Dragon Ball and still recommend it to friends.

I have been meaning to try Kei's for some time and finally had the opportunity today. I bought a selection of Pans: Mt. Matcha, Mt. Tea, Mt. Choco pans; Curry pan and Croquette pan.

Curry pan was a stand out of the bunch. Filled to the edges with Japanese curry enveloped by a chewy soft bread. And as with most Asian bakeries pretty much all bread is the soft and chewy type instead of crusty.
Croquette was pretty good. It's basically a potato croquette sandwich. It comes in a small soft "croissant-shaped" bun with lettuce and tonkatsu sauce. With some bites at times I thought the sauce was a tad sweet for me. These two buns were perfect for a quick small lunch to cure the hunger pangs.

Of the sweet items, the Mt. Matcha and Mt. Choco pans were the most flavourful of the three custardy buns. The bread is more of a sweet dough in texture compared to the other savory ones above. Mt. Matcha had a nice green tea aroma and taste coming through in the matcha flavoured custard filling and a strong cocoa taste in the Mt. Choco custard filling. All the buns had ample filling.
The Mt. Tea was pretty mild in flavour but still pleasant. The best thing is all of the buns are not overly sweet so you can eat more than one.
The service was very Japanese: incredibly polite and friendly, fast, efficient and humble. It is run by a Japanese couple. The wife as baker and husband up front. There was a short line when I went in and a steady stream of Japanese speaking customers entering. The line moved quickly.
The items I purchased ranged from $2 to $2.50 each. This seemed to be the higher price point items in the bakery case as other items were at the $1.50 or so mark. I didn't see any items over $3. Generally I would think $2.50 is a tad pricey for a bun, but I think these from Kei's are worth it. My 10 items came to $23.
Ambiance is really warm and homey. It's just a take out place but I didn't feel rushed and they took the time to chat with customers while passing their infant daughter around among regular customers.

From what I understand they only bake a small batch of each variety for the day, and sometimes sell out entirely within hours (??).
The food tasted like it had been baked with care. I will definately be returning.

Went to Dinesty for a late lunch, arrived around 2pm. The restaurant was busy with mostly 4 top and 2 top tables.
The food overall was more mild in flavour when compared to some other Shanghainese places we have frequented. We ordered XLB, Perserved Jelly Pork, Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce with buns, Wine Chicken and Stir Fried Rice Cake with Salted Vegetable and Pork.

The cold jelly pork appetizer came out first. The version here has more of a "minced meat type" texture to it, and less jelly. This was one of the dishes that I didn't mind the milder taste with. I find when I order this dish in other restaurants it tends to be quite salty. However, I wouldn't order this again here as I would rather have the "head-cheese-like" texture of this dish found at other shanghainese places.
The Wine Chicken didn't have much of a wine essence to it. What I enjoyed about their wine chicken is they do it boneless! This makes it so much easier to eat.
The XLB had a nice thin wrapper and I enjoyed the smaller size of them. The broth and the meat inside were just "meh..." A bit flavour less or much too mild.
The Stir Fried Rice Cake with Vegetables we had ordered just to have some carbs, otherwise it would've been a very meaty meal. This was a nice dish. This was another dish where I appreciated the lack of flavours. The rice slices were chewy but not gummy and the blandness of the flavour made it a nice filler dish.
The Stewed Pork with steamed buns was the last dish. The waitress had let us know at the time of order this dish would take at least 20minutes to prepare. The pork was tender and the buns were soft and yummy. The brown sauce was a bit sweet and I couldn't detect any other flavours in it other than: "sweet". The slices of pork were a tad on the thin side.
In conclusion, 3 out of the 5 dishes needed a touch more flavour. It wasn't a bad meal, just be prepared for the mildness/blandness.

Service at Dinesty today was surprisingly very good. We were greeted at the door and seated with tea very quickly. Our waitress was friendly and the food started coming out within 5 minutes of ordering. Very efficient. The restaurant is English Language friendly and has pictures of some of their dishes in the menu.
The restaurant is well appointed with modern furniture and every seat has a clear view of their open kitchen. As with most asian restaurants, the volume is loud. The bathrooms were usable but needed ventilation and to be attended to.
The value is pretty good, our 5 dishes came to just under $35. We weren't blown away by the food but we would consider a repeat visit if we wanted a quick bite and easy parking.

Have walked/driven by this place on Davie numerous times but never had the urge to go in.
Needing a quick breakfast this morning before an appointment we headed in after seeing their chalkboard signage. We each had the bacon and egg bagel $4.75 and a chicken samosa $2.80. It came to just under $16 dollars for the two of us, and we did not have morning beverages.

The bagel was good and tasted like something I would make at home. Simple sandwich: multigrain toasted buttered bagel, scrambled egg and bacon. It did the job as we were very hungry. We were of split opinions on the samosa. I thought it was okay. But my other half thought it was very good; "good enough for a return vist." We opted for the samosas to not be heated, because I assumed they would just toss them into a microwave. In hindsight, I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if it were heated.

The space was a little old and well used. The coffee air pots had seen better days and the tables and chairs were a of a mix and match variety. I didn't get the sense that things were dirty per se but just well used, maybe in need of reviving.

The service was very friendly and straightforward. It seemed like a husband and wife team behind the counter. We did notice a fairly steady stream of customers coming in. This maybe due to the fact that the McDonalds a few door up is closed for awhile for renovations.
We may be back to sample their other savory baked goods.

We went here for dim sum on a recommendation. It's pretty good considering the price point. We ordered the squid tentacles, tendon/tripe, beef ball, shrimp cheung fun, ha gao, glutinous rice wraps, black sesame cubes, and steamed yolk buns.
The highlight may be the tentacles. Nice lightly seasoned batter, not chewy or too greasy. Most of the dishes were on par quality wise with other dim sum restaurants that charge at the $2.50/dish mark.

We were expecting the steamed yolk buns to be the runny yolk kind; but they weren't. :( We noted that for next time. The sesame gelatin had that thick "skin" on it like it was left out for a while, but that could have been due to us waiting until the end to eat it. It did sit on our table for awhile.
The only real disappointment was the cheung fun.
It was thick and a bit on the gluey side, also it was lacking shrimp (there was literally 2 shrimps per roll).

The ambiance wasn't much, but I didn't expect much. If we sat in the main dining room it may have been better. We didn't want to wait so we agreed to be seated in the upstairs-overflow-mahjong-room.

I think it's unfair to compare dim sum like this to say Sea Harbour, Kirin, or the Jade because the price point and ambiance are completely different. We will be back to give to the other selections a go.

We were here with a large group in the "Afghan" room, we had made reservations well in advance. They didn't want us to take up the entire room as they had other reservations (perhaps they over booked themselves?), so they squished our party to 3-4 people per table. These are tables that would normally seat two! It made for an very uncomfortable night for some.

My partner and I shared the Horseman's Platter. The food is decent. I enjoyed the whole wheat pita appetizers with the lentil and sabzi mast dips. The kebabs and lamb shoulder were very tender and tasty, although I came across some dry pieces I couldn't bear to swallow. I also enjoyed the pakawra some slices were greasier than others, but they were enveloped in a seasoned batter that gave the meal a bit of crunch. My dining buddy didn't care for them as he thought they tasted like KFC skin. To each their own.

The service was okay. Some of the people in our group weren't familiar with the type of food and asked the server to tell us a bit about it. I don't know if she misunderstood the question, but she didn't tell us anything and said "just order the Horseman's Platter." Uh, okay. Thanks.

I do have to agree with other reviews that this restaurant is somewhat over priced for the type of food you get. The restaurant offers similar items that you could get in typical local Greek restaurants, but it is slightly different. I guess one would have to choose if that slight difference is worth it. The ambiance of the Afghan Room was nice, but if I return I would probably prefer to sit at the regular tables.

I enjoyed my evening at the Afghan Horseman, I would recommend if you have never been before. I'm not sure if I would return soon. I would probably return if I was craving some pakawras....

This is what the server said, as she picked up our empty plates. LOL. Hmmm....

This place is delightful. We went at lunch time, our intentions were to have a dessert item. We ordered a Hamburg set meal, Fatty tuna don, salmon cheeks and to drink a Coconut Pine cocktail and iced oolong tea. The food was pretty good. I especially enjoyed the salmon head pieces and my coconut drink. There was a lot of food for two people. We were so full from our lunch that we couldn't fit in dessert and we really wanted to try their sundaes or shaved ice.

The room was fun, friendly and clean. The bathrooms were very eye clean.
Our server was lovely. The food took a little while to get but friendly service can make up for that.
We will be back to try the desserts. :)

I know people who have had nightmare experiences with this place, but of the times I have been (including just recently) it has been decent.
I went with a party of three on a Saturday afternoon. The restaurant was busy but not at full capacity. Service was very prompt, we were seated, our orders were taken and the food came out all within 10 minutes or so. I have only ordered their Dac Biet Pho and I thought it was ok each time. I think they provide you with more beef balls than other pho place in their Dac Biet. Their soup stock is made with daikon and you can taste that bit of aromatic difference.

My dining partner wasn't too impressed with the Beef Ball and Tendon Pho. The tendon not very gelatinous and the rare beef tasted a bit gamey. (I have always known from other diners that the meat quality has been inconsistent over the years.)
Their spring-rolls were very good and packed with filling. They seem to be bigger than other places as well.
Generally I only go to Pho Van if someone else in our party is requesting it. I can't say I love it enough to go on my own accord, or to miss out on a pho place I enjoy more.

This has been our regular place for banh mi for years. Great subs and although they have had price increases over the years it's still cheap! We usually get the House Special (various pork cuts) with an extra schmear of pate and the Garlic Sausage Banh Mi. Excellent fresh ingredients, always fresh bread and the place is relatively clean to the eye. A big plus is that because they bake their own bread, they never run out. So unlike other places you can arrive at anytime of the day and be confident you can still get your banh mi.

The staff so far have been fast and efficient. Often there is a line up but it moves quickly.

Although I would highly recommend the banh miI personally would take a pass on the baked goods. My other half enjoys the casava cake and other items so inevitably we always end up with some of their bakery stuffs. Over the years we've tried most of their bakery case items. I personally have never been too impressed with their bakery goods. The filling in many are a tad scant for me.

Good place to go if you feel like a sub and really want to eat fresh, fast and cheap.

We started with spring rolls. They were hot, crispy and full of stuffing. There was also a generous bowl of nuoc cham for dipping. I appreciate the extra nuoc cham as I like to use it with the salad that comes with the rolls.
The pho here last night was very good. I had the dac biet #4 and my partner had beef balls and rare beef. The broth was very flavorful, probably the most tasty I've had in a while. The beef was tender and there seemed to be a good ratio of noodles and toppings to both bowls. The condiment plate was fresh: bean sprouts were crispy, generous helping of basil (not wilted, wedges of lime and thai chilies. So many other pho restaurants skimp out with providing chilies :(
Service was a little slower, but better than the last time we were here. (The last time the seated us, and then never came back....at all!)
One glaring thing that would have made the pho better would be the temperature of the broth. It wasn't as hot as it should be. Value for money is pretty solid (for vancouver pho places) as an appetizer and 2 regular bowls of pho came to just under $18.
On a side note: I find that with different pho restaurants the smell that lingers in your clothes when you leave varies from place to place. This particular place you reek of it. I don't know if it's a difference of ventilation or what, but be forewarned before you wear your "dry-clean only" attire in there. :) I would return to Pho Thai Hoa and recommend to friends.

I finally had a chance to stop in at Menya. I'm not sure if it was because my expectations were high (due to some positive reviews) but I was greatly disappointed. The broth was way too salty! So much so that I couldn't finish the noodles. I felt the price point wasn't as good either if I compare it to the downtown counterparts. The toppings were minimal and the char shui was some of the worst I've had at a ramen place. Stringy and a bit tough. Service was decent as most ramen place are.

I would definitely endure a trip over the bridge and the downtown parking scene to get better ramen.I appreciate the effort of this place but I won't be recommending it to others.

The service here is consistantly good. I can't really comment on anything other than their pho, as that is what I generally go in for. The broth is a tad oily, but flavourful. The noodles are nicely done each time, a bit of chew and no clumpyness. The toppings for Dac Biet are all tasty and prepared well. I did notice that the quantity may be smaller than other pho places, but that's not a big deal to me. I generally go in the afternoon on a Saturday; it is always bustling with a contant stream of customers; this can make finding parking a bit difficult.
I wish Kim Phung could be my go-to place for Pho, unfortunately the person I dine with has an allergic reaction everytime we eat there.??? Pressure in the chest and numbness in the limbs...hmmm we just can't take that risk.... Sorry Kim Phung. But I still recommend it to friends.

I'm not sure if this place is new or just renovated. I came about it simply from a "drive by". Went to the restaurant at 11:00ish. We were the only patrons there. I ordered their version of Pho Dac Biet. I was expecting what one would normally find in a Dac Biet (rare beef, beef balls, tripe, flank, tendon...etc). Unfortunately, it only contained rare beef, beef balls and flank. ??? I am certain on the menu it had described the regular ingredients of a Dac Biet. At the time, I figured this was just their version of a Dac Biet. I asked for my rare beef on the side, which they did. However my companion's rare beef was omitted entirely from his order of Rare beef and Beef Ball pho.
Something was not right about the noodles. They were much thinner than your normal pho noodle and as such were a over cooked. The noodles did not have that certain "chew" to it. The broth was quite salty and after the meal both of us were extremely thirsty for a long time. The pho condiments (sprouts, thai basil, chilis, lime wedges) were nice and fresh.
The prices were out of left field! $7.50 small; $8.25 large??? Seriously, I don't mind paying more for pho, but at those prices I would be expecting some kick ass pho.
Bathrooms were clean.
Since there are plently of other pho places in Vancouver I don't see an immediate need to return to this one.

Finally a decent frozen yoghurt place. I find other places that sell frozen yoghurt try to make it taste like ice cream(far too sweet and no distinctive tang). At Blueberry's it actually taste like yoghurt, but frozen. Hey what a novel concept! Of the handful of times that I have gone there the toppings looked fresh and the fruit was ripe. I usually get the original with one topping. I love the presentation too. Very clean with no advertisement on the dishes or spoons. So simple, just the white yoghurt in a clear dish with the bright colour contrast of fruit topping.

Price wise they are comparable to any gelato or specialty dessert place out there. Product wise there really isn't any comparable yoghurt places. (The one chain that comes to mind doesn't even taste like yoghurt.) I like that they are open late as it is a perfect treat on a warm summer night. There have been line ups each time I have gone, but the friendly staff seems to move the line along with ease. I will definitely be back. I wish there was more than just one location.

I really wanted to like this place. I have driven by it a number of times and must admit the attractiveness of the decor lured me in. I liked the space immediately it looked to be modern and clean with a very feminine touch. I was there mid afternoon on a Saturday, the place was empty. We were there only for bubble tea. One of us ordered a slush version and it had big chunks of ice in it. It was so thick with ice you could not suck it up, or stir it up in order to distribute the pearls and/or coconut jelly. So you ended up sucking up just the jelly, then you are left with a snow cone. I ordered a non slush drink with pudding. The pudding was one huge coagulated disk at the bottom of my cup. That didn't bother me but it was a bit odd. The rose milk tea was tasty however. At $5.50 per bubble tea with pearls or jelly I find this to be way too overpriced, as there is far better bubble tea to be had elsewhere for far less $$. I must say the service was very friendly and welcoming. I don't see myself returning.